


hold my hand and fall with me

by finedae



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Office, Confessions, Crack, Earthquakes, Fluff and Humor, M/M, OT9 shenanigans, wholesome content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-30
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2018-11-15 20:01:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11238150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/finedae/pseuds/finedae
Summary: The thing about natural disasters is that they don'thappento Korea Team, and one can say they're not the best equipped to handle it. (China Team insinuated it. didn't end well.)OR, exo deals with an earthquake; secret revelations, office drama, hidden marriages+kids, potential threesomes, Byun Baekhyun, hunger games esque survival, and Chanyeol still can't stop thinking about Kyungsoo, even if the world's about to end.





	hold my hand and fall with me

**Author's Note:**

> IT HAS BEEN SOOOOOO LONG
> 
> hiiiiiiIIIIiiii!!!!! this fic took me TOO long to write but i am SO happy with it?????  
> finally, i am diving headfirst into exofic, my one true sarang. i love exo fic so much, and hold it to a higher regard which is why writing this was kind of pressuring for me (ed sheeran voice give me love) but i love chansoo and i love exo to bits and once i had this idea i NEEDED to write this
> 
> and if you know me, you bet ur damn ass it is yet again 5am and i am posting fic
> 
> okay 3 HUGE credits:
> 
> first to @huniverses on twt whose tweets helped shape and make this fic!! her tweets are lovely and hilarious, follow her if you're looking for a good positive time on stan twt
> 
> second, to the collegehumour video titled What To Do In An Earthquake
> 
> and thirdly to reeza, a DARLING who helped me out the tense when i was so closing to dumping it all away 
> 
> the events r also partly inspired by irl earthquake experiences and while it is not meant to be taken literally, or belittle a natural disaster i hope you guys can relate too 
> 
> also i have NOTHING against chinaline ex mmbrs. the reason why bbh has beef against luhan is another story. 
> 
> Also if you guys have any requests, leave it in the comments and I'll consider it!!! thank youuu  
> enjoi!!!

The end of the world began on a sunny Tuesday, 9AM in the Seoul SM HQ's main department, accompanied by Baekhyun screaming. To be fair, he's screaming at any given moment — he and Jongdae have a bet, and they're both whiners not quitters.

The sun was shining, the local street vendors were opening up shop after kicking out the homeless or drunk people asleep at the footholds, the incessant traffic began, and the children in their bright uniforms and depending on which high ranking university they get into making their futures bright trudged ahead with dread and faked nonchalance. Another day in a metropolitan city began. 

"Good work, guys!" Junmyeon said in Mandarin, one of the few phrases he knew and said despite context to 'boost team morale', clapping his hands excitedly wearing a bright fuchsia sweater nobody stared too long at.

Junmyeon, their team leader, was on a Skype call with the China Team briefing them about the latest client requirements through the other side of the screen Yixing sat with an acoustic guitar, playing cereal jingles. Minseok was in the kitchen making coffee, while the intern Sehun whose primary job is to run to the local big chain cafe and somehow fit 12 different, very specific orders in his long ass arms was trying to remember if the soy milk, fat free, two and a half whips was for Junmyeon or Jongdae, pretty sure one of them is lactose intolerant. Minseok is of no use, since his coffee elitist opinion is whoever drinks that sugary gentrified corporate coffee deserves flatulence, he says, putting an instant Nescafé coffee mix in their sponsored Samsung coffee machine. Mentorship, Sehun's perfect ass. 

Jongin, their other intern, was discreetly napping on the couch. He, for some reason, believed that Sehun's coffee runs means _his_ break time as long as no one notices his eyes are closed and a spreadsheet tab is open on his laptop. It was a relatively productive day — Jongdae hadn't whined about the weather or the temperature or the workload or Junmyeon's ugly sweaters once yet, and Sooyoung hadn't made a single intern cry trying to get her copies from their ridiculously complicated French printer/3D copier. 

So naturally, everything had to go to shit.

The first person to notice was Chanyeol, surprisingly, who isn't the most observant in nature. It took him a week to realize that that Zitao's picture and a scented candle with the inscription _always and forever in our hearts_ on Sehun's desk and Chanyeol immediately drew to the obvious logical conclusion that tragically died which would explain why Sehun was so snappish and only listened to Roy Kim ballads. Turns out Sehun was just being himself, and as Chanyeol found out after posting a sad memorial in Weibo and asking in their office kakaotalk group chat how much it would take to send a large but acceptably mournful flower arrangement that Zitao hadn't tragically died and the candle was a gift Zitao had given Sehun before departing with the China Team. 

But still on this particular morning, Chanyeol was as observant as ever, staring at Kyungsoo's desk as he does every 15 minutes. Okay, he's not a _creep,_ his own cubicle is too tiny to ever comfortably rest his long legs and he kept a sound system and unimportant files and a bowl where the footrest under the desk is, because you never know when you're gonna have an office party so every 15 minutes or so, to prevent getting a leg cramp he has to push his chair back and stretch slightly and Kyungsoo's desk just _happens_ to be exactly adjacent in his line of sight. It can't be helped, really. Also Kyungsoo is really cute. He's always doing something interesting, like typing away diligently or sometimes slightly frowning and pushing his thick rimmed glasses to his nose before typing away diligently, or look for a stapler on his desk before Chanyeol swoops in to save the day by suavely sliding his swivel chair to Kyungsoo's desk. Most of the time he overestimates and collides face front with Baekhyun, but Kyungsoo always says a "Thanks Chanyeol" (or maybe a "why do you howl?" but Chanyeol prefers the former) before he goes back to diligently doing his job. So yeah, you can't blame Chanyeol for looking when you never know when you might have a stapler crisis.

Chanyeol spots Kyungsoo, whose shoulders were slightly shaking, frowning at his laptop and is about reprimand Baekhyun for shaking his desk when Baekhyun snaps, "Yah! Stop moving so much, I'm trying to play Leag—send an email!" 

All hell breaks loose. If Chanyeol wasn't looking, he wouldn't have had known Kyungsoo had replied a "I'm not." before everything _everything_ starts shaking, the whole 12th floor — a feat not even Byun Baekhyun can accomplish.

Immediately, everybody started yelling. Baekhyun's voice standing out, and never to be out-rivaled by him, Jongdae's **_"AH WAE!"_** stood out even more. People had incredibly different visceral reactions, from the initial of what the _fuck_ is going on?! Because earthquakes _don't_ happen in Korea, like fast 5G internet, is something they pride over their Eastern neighboring countries — and Korea Team comes back with war stories and in great detail of the mild tremors they experienced and lived through during meetings with Japan. So understandably, when the floors and desks shook and one lone swivel chair slid past on its own, everyone forgoes the Golden Rule of  What To _Not_ Do In An Earthquake and _panicked_. Considerably.

Junmyeon immediately said in his authoritative, responsible Team Leader voice, "It's an earthquake! Everybody get under your desks so the debris doesn't fall on you!" which was completely drowned out by people's — Baekhyun and Jongdae mostly — screaming and shuffling around in confusion. Junmyeon, to his credit, disappeared under his desk but winced as in front of him, his impressive, precariously balanced two foot stack of disorganized files fell to the floor. Somewhere, Sehun must have schadenfreude as the intern had once spent an entire afternoon organizing them only to return in the evening to see Junmyeon had retreated the mess even worse somehow. 

"No!" Jongdae scream-screeched, pleased that his day to show vocal superiority in the office over Junmyeon had come, "You're supposed to go _over_ the desk, so the desk doesn't crush you!" And with that, he jumped over his and Junmyeon's workspace, hands and knees on all fours over the desk, hip pushed back as a personal affront to Baekhyun, also what a good day to wear dress pants, his ass looked amazing.

In real time, Sehun managed to set down the dozen Venti bastardized iced Americanos on the kitchen counter without spilling _any,_ God he deserves a raise, and as the floor under him began to rumble or so it felt like, Sehun's self preservation skills kicked in and he immediately attached himself to the nearest rock hard foundation, holding onto it for life itself. 

And that is the day Sehun discovered Kim Minseok has rock hard abs.

"Guys, what _is_ going on?!" Yixing's concerned accented Korean enunciated through the speakers, Junmyeon forgot to close the Skype call so China Team was currently onlooking the entire Korea Team flailing about, which isn't a very high standard to hold Baekhyun to. Luhan looked bored. 

Chanyeol gave up the thought of potentially damaging his speakers to fit half his limbs under the desk, and stood and held onto his desk, trying to stay grounded. It felt like trying to stand in a bouncy castle and he was never too good at those. In his peripheral vision he saw Kyungsoo also standing, teeth gritted and eyebrows drawn like two bushy caterpillars at a congregation, _typing an email._ Baekhyun beside him was doing something even _more_ incredulous, never one to be beaten at that.

Byun Baekhyun was _jumping._ "The floor can't affect you if you're not touching it!" He yelled at Kyungsoo. Chanyeol knows that's a stupid idea because it almost made sense to him. "C'mon, try it! The earthquake's more afraid of you than you are of it!" and Chanyeol's pretty sure he heard a distinct Kim Jongdae yell back, _"That's spiders, you idiot."_ Kyungsoo's face went so blank, it was impossibly hilarious and terrifying at the same time. This whole situation was. Kyungsoo was probably writing an email about Baekhyun to HR, Chanyeol thought for some reason, because that's a very Kyungsoo thing to do in a natural disaster. Bring Byun Baek down with you.

Chanyeol vaguely wondered at the back of his mind why Kyungsoo wasn't ducking under his desk, since the pillars people were claiming for their own was too far away. Seriously, it would give him so much peace of mind knowing Kyungsoo is saf — _Kyungsoo is claustrophobic._ It hits Chanyeol so suddenly, that time Jongdae and Taeyeon had accidentally locked Kyungsoo in the supplies closet thinking it was Baekhyun and when he was finally out, Kyungsoo hadn't said a word and stormed out of the office and didn't even respond to the million puppy memes Chanyeol texted and emailed and work emailed, not even to tell him to fuck off. 

Chanyeol didn't really make the decision to move until he noticed not only the building, but his limbs were also moving because in his mind there were only red sirens and flashing lights and ominous skulls with bones crossed, in New Times Roman flashing DO KYUNGSOO, which in gentler times is usually a softer curly font with tiny flowers and hearts around ~Do Kyungsoo~ and with shaky legs and a worthy battle cry of, "Kyungsoo-yah!" Chanyeol raged forward.

It was kind of like walking backwards on a moving bus, but thankfully Chanyeol's long legs made it there by three strides. The whole situation was so surreal, he barely registered at the back of his mind that Yerim, Seulgi, Joohyun all somehow ducked under the same table, like a clown car — so many things were happening at once that it felt all slow and sluggish, and dramatic like a movie where it felt like hours but only a few seconds had passed, and ignoring every other distraction and worry of how they were 11 floors up, or if the glass windows shatter, Chanyeol focused on his anchor whose hands were clenched on his desk and eyes shut. Kyungsoo opened his eyes impossibly wide and looked up when Chanyeol grabbed his waist in a halfway backhug, and wow _he is so impossibly cute —_ now is _not_ the time, Chanyeol, he reminds himself and _oh right,_ he grabs Baekhyun by the collar and stopped the fucker from causing collateral damage. "Thought you guys needed a pillar." He smiled weakly, while Kyungsoo stared at him like he was crazy to have walked all the way over for moral support.

"Sehun-ah," Chanyeol yelled at their vertically gifted intern, thinking about Junmyeon and Jongdae, "Grab the short ones and run! Their legs can't make it!" and was immediately jabbed in his sides by both Baekhyun and Kyungsoo, and he's about to tell him _guys, now is not the time for your Napoleon complex, we need to save—_ but he looked up to see Sehun with two arms and a leg around Minseok, holding onto him like he was getting paid for it, and considering this is currently business hours he probably is. Not a bad gig.

"I don't wanna _die!_ I'm too young to die, I'm too _pretty_ to die, I haven't even got a modelling contract yet! I was supposed to be the next Kim Tae Hee!" Sehun rambled off in a panic, his hands on Minseok's abs the only semblance of normalcy in his unfair, soon-to-be short lived life. Minseok tried his best to calm down their skinny care bear intern, but to avail, finally resorting to the big guns.

"Sehun," He said quiet but authoritatively, slowly enunciating each syllable, the way you train a dog so that they calm down to listen to you, and it worked Sehun stopped wiggling in his arms, "If we die, you need to tell my wife and kids..." 

WHAT. 

Sehun stopped dead in his tracks, because _what?!_ No way their voted 'most likely to be a sugar daddy' extremely attractive yet youthful looking senior, beating Junmyeon so closely, was hiding away a wife and kids somewhere, fuck dying this is a _goldmine_ of office gossip. But before Minseok, in his finely pressed buttoned up shirt — such a Dad look, Sehun should've _known_ — continues, he pauses for a second, looking around before taking a step back, de tangling himself from Sehun. The floor had stopped shaking. 

The whole office was quiet. It was like a game of The Floor Is Lava except now you weren't sure if The Floor Is Solid again. The vertigo from the last few intense seconds made everyone second guess themselves to move until Luhan's bored, monotone voice rang through the laptop speakers of the _still_ connected Skype call, "God, all that fuss over 20 seconds. Tch, Koreans." 

Baekhyun, immediately seized by a moment of passion made the first move, like he always does, and leaped forward to shut the laptop screen, disconnecting the call. "The last thing I'd ever want to hear before I die is not Luhan's voice." 

That triggered everyone to start slowly getting out under their desks and releasing the stronghold grip on the pillars. A course of "what the fuck?", "That felt like it broke the Richter scale!", and a very distressed Sehun's "My kakaotalk is down!", disorientated people began to collect themselves and immediately call home and to other loved ones and digest what just happened, before immediately taking out their phones. 

Chanyeol was still holding Kyungsoo, who was still staring straight up at him. "You should let me go now." Kyungsoo said, his voice rougher than he expected and cleared his throat and behind them, Baekhyun wolf whistled. Chanyeol, as if broken from a trance, let go immediately and shifted his weight backwards to look effortlessly cool and instead he tripped, and would've fell flat on his face if Kyungsoo had not grabbed onto his arm. "Or maybe not." He muttered. Baekhyun was now clapping.

Junmyeon finally peeked out from under of his desk, like a frightened rabbit assessing predators from its hole, and was about to assume his leadership role when the distinct click of heels from the executive office above descended to their floor.

"Everybody, please evacuate the building through the fire exit and remain calm. You are advised to walk to the nearest open space or park. Your cooperation is welcomed." rang a PSA through the speakers.

Kim Taeyeon, their Chief Operations Officer, with her bodyguards and amazing blonde hair and rose gold pantsuit looking every bit unaffected told Korea Team, "Ladies and Gentlemen, let's take the morning off, shall we?" 

Baekhyun watched her go and said wistfully and admiringly, "When she runs for office, our company is gonna be so screwed."

Jongin woke up and wondered why no one told him lunch break is now at 9:05 AM.

 

Technically, you're supposed to go an open space but once Korea Team saw the rest of the corporate drones and their fellow friendly competitors descending the streets of Seocho-dong, looking incredibly out of place in their white collar attire heading for a park. Once they saw JYP had practically set up camp there, Korea Team made the executive decision and an immediate beeline to the nearest street halmoni owned restaurant for soju and brunch ssams. There is, after all, nothing more Korean than drinking your trauma away, especially at 9AM, Baekhyun happily encouraged and Jongdae rallying the team.

Junmyeon and Chanyeol went to help the old lady, who looked tough as nails, who scoffed and waved them off telling him how she's lived through worse conditions and had kept all the beer crates on the ground and the meat safe in the pantry, because "that's how you run a business, son." 

"Damn, we should hire her." Chanyeol said, and Junmyeon fervently agreed.

The smell of sizzling beef and the alcohol heightened spirits to a point where everyone started recounting their oh-so-unique experience of the same event with so much fervor and excitement, one would think its Dispatch covering an idol dating scandal. Baekhyun was on a Skype call with Yixing, telling him that he knew he wouldn't die because he needed to see Yixing's sweet ass one more time and that's his purpose in life that irrevocably saved everyone. Although the earthquake was a 5.6, and no reported casualties resulted, and Japan Team would've probably laughed forever, everyone rightfully immediately looked up "earthquake" on Naver and became an overnight seismologist and began interceding one another on their knowledge of continental plates, seismic waves, epicenters, aftershocks, renowned but tragically inactive girl group After School, etc.

"What is the _point_ of having the fastest internet in the world if we can't even SNS #prayforkorea?" Sehun lamented as the data was currently down, and he couldn't tweet his traumatizing experience of knowing that Minseok is a married man. The other younger workers raised a shot and drank to that.

Jongdae was mildly intoxicated, with three buttons of his shirt already open and a red flush across his cheekbones, picking a fight with Team Leader, pointing a rude index finger straight at his face. "Yah! Did you try to shake me off your desk? In an _earthquake?!"_

Junmyeon looked sheepish, his survival of the fittest instincts had kicked in and eliminating if eliminating a noisy Jongdae from breaking his desk and killing him too, then so be it. Looking back, he feels guilty about it so Junmyeon did the right thing and took out his wallet. "The next round's on me." 

Jongdae immediately took a seat beside Junmyeon, arm around his shoulder. "You know I always thought you're such a great Team Leader, Junmyeon-ah. Team really is first to you." He said dreamily with his Cheshire cat smile, patting his back and ordering another round of drinks, with side dishes to go and more meat to wash it down.

"What the hell, Jongin?! You slept through an earthquake?! I was so worried! God, you're such a —" Soojung started ranting, half of it in English, at a confused Jongin who tried to swallow an entire wrap in one bite and was now choking. Taemin immediately stepped in to calm down and save the situation between the two recently broken up love birds, who still deeply cared about each other as proven by the bulging vein in Soojung's forehead and how she looked like she was going to stab him with a pair of chopsticks.

"Duuuuude," Taemin began, obviously impressed, "You _slept_ through an _earthquake!"_ and reached out to high five him while Soojung glowered.

Sehun was pestering Minseok since his phone wasn't working and he had no other form of entertainment because the awkward eventual threesome that would occur between TaeKaiStal, ew, he gave them about 6 weeks to get rid of that sexual tension and post breakup feelings. 

"I can't believe you're a _real_ dad!" Sehun groaned, toying at Minseok's cufflinks. Ugh, only actual adults wear cufflinks, like ones with a wife and a mortgaged house. 

"Why, what kind of Dad did you think I was?" Minseok indulged in him, and laughed as Sehun groaned again at the _dad joke._

"I'm really not, though." said Minseok, feigning innocence. Sehun looked at the gods for being so cruel, that this man who looked younger than him and not a single wrinkle on him and with _rock, hard abs_ the memory that is burned in Sehun's mind whenever he sees Minseok now that under than prim proper dad attire is a _ripped bod_ probably teaches his son how to ride a bike and does weekend gardening with his wife. 

"Just got a cat, grumpy like you, and weekend baseball." He says, amused and brushed the hair from Sehun's eyes. Sehun ignored that, yeah weekend baseball games with your son, he thought darkly.

"You can ask Junmyeon." Minseok suggested, lifting his beer.

"No way! For all I know, he's hiding away a family of domestic bliss somewhere too, and you probably send your kids to the same daycare." Sehun frowns at him, and begins wondering the possibilities of Junmyeon being in on this too, and suddenly his ugly cardigans and bad jokes start putting in place. Oh no no no. Sehun began stress eating. Minseok laughed at his pain and said nothing, pushing more plates of food towards him. Stupid husband material hot dad.

Chanyeol, for one, wasn't drinking. He was watching others eat and get drunk and try to make a good experience over a shitty morning by forgetting about it, but he _couldn't._ Couldn't forget the way how time had stopped when nothing else had when he was holding Kyungsoo, how Kyungsoo hadn't let go of his arm as they all rapidly walked downstairs — 11 floors worth, Chanyeol was dizzy by the end of it, the phantom feeling of aftershocks psyched them all but he'd walk 11 more floors if it meant Kyungsoo was holding was his hand. And then Kyungsoo had disappeared. Off to make a call, probably, but it had been around 45 minutes and he could've gone home maybe except Chanyeol doesn't know if he should give him his privacy or check up on him, he doesn't know what to do when it comes to Kyungsoo, really. All protocol flies right out of the window.

At some point, a drunken Baekhyun bumped into him who either said "just him how you feel" or was describing how Yixing stirs an earthquake in Baekhyun's loins in broken Chinese. Yixing just looked so horribly endeared through the video messaging call that Chanyeol wondered if he looked at Kyungsoo that way and then immediately went to drown out that thought by offering to help the halmoni with the dishes or cleaning or anything for the third time, and getting kicked out of her kitchen again.

Chanyeol was so immersed in his thoughts, he didn't even see Kyungsoo approaching which is ironic because one of Chanyeol's many talents include being able to spot Kyungsoo in an given room, like am interactive game of Where's Waldo.

"You." Kyungsoo says, kind of frowning up at Chanyeol but most likely because he forgot to take his glasses on their way down and Kyungsoo's astigmatism makes him look a little frowny at all times.

"Me." Chanyeol agrees.

"Why, in a possibly life threatening situation, was your first instinct to go '"Yah, Kyungsoo-ah!"'? Kyungsoo asked, his tone completely flat.

Chanyeol couldn't gauge at Kyungsoo's reaction, so his mind panicked and initial response was to _backtrack the fuck up._

"Cause, cause I know you're claustrophobic because of that time with the supplies room prank, so you wouldn't go under your desk and it's unsafe during an earthquake and you weren't even near a wall and there was _Baekhyun_ and it wasn't like I had to _save_ you or anything, like a Batman movie and let's be real you're more Batman, I'm more of a Catwoman type anyways —" Chanyeol was cut off mid babbling because Do Kyungsoo had just fucking pulled him down by the neck, and went on his tiptoes and just kissed him. 

"That's all I could think about back there — that I wanted to do this, if we lived." 

Baekhyun was wolf whistling again. Or that was the soundtrack in Chanyeol's heart. Because. _Do. Kyungsoo. Just. Fucking. Kissed. Him._ Suddenly, Chanyeol's legs were all wobbly and wow, Korea needed better earthquake alerts because his heart is shook. Kyungsoo looked at Chanyeol, all bright and breathless, before his expression falling at Chanyeol's brain not computing, and even Chanyeol doesn't know what dopey expression he has on, because what the fuck. Okay, no, he's not going to fuck this up — Kyungsoo _likes_ and it only took a near death experience for his feelings to surface and okay, like Eminem hyung famously said "You've only got once shot, do not miss your chance to blow, this opportunity comes once in a lifetime" Chanyeol's fucking _got_ this.

"Kyungsoo-ah, was that an earthquake or did —"

"Don't say it."

"You—"

"Stop."

"Just—"

"Chanyeol."

"Rock my world?" 

 

Needless to say, Korea Team handled their first natural disaster emergency with calm, poise, and no major repercussions, or adrenaline and alcohol fueled decisions and Sehun definitely didn't confirm that Minseok's lovely penthouse apartment is devoid of any wife and kids, but a lovely cat who doesn't mind Sehun being the clingy one with her owner.

**Author's Note:**

> its ok jonginnie, i've slept through a 5.3 too


End file.
